Spike In COVID-19 Deaths In NC, As 1,578 New Cases Confirmed

CHARLOTTE, NC— The number of lives lost to coronavirus illness in North Carolina rose sharply by 53 deaths Tuesday, increasing the statewide death toll to nearly 4,000. The news comes as North Carolina public health officials reported 1,578 newly confirmed coronavirus cases in the state, increasing the state's tally of lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases to 248,750 cases, according to data released by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

As of Oct. 20, at least 3,992 deaths have been attributed to COVID-19 in the state.

Across the board, increases in COVID-like syndromic cases, new cases, hospitalizations and the percent of tests that are positive are in increasing in Mecklenburg County, as well as statewide.

During the past week, Mecklenburg County reported an average of 177 laboratory-confirmed infections, up from the 14-day average of 138 confirmed infections. In the last week, hospitalizations at acute care facilities in the county rose to an average of 99 patients, MCPH said Tuesday.

Earlier this month, Mecklenburg County Public Health Director Gibbie Harris said COVID-19 deaths for the first half of 2020 were the third leading cause of death in the county marking the first time in decades that a communicable disease was in the top 10 causes of death in the community.

Harris warned last week that jumps in COVID-19 spread in areas surrounding the county — such as in Gaston County — are starting to impact Charlotte hospitals. "We are hearing that hospitals in the western part of the state are overwhelmed, and they are diverting patients to the Charlotte area and the Winston-Salem area," Harris said.

As of Oct. 20, there were 1,203 coronavirus patients hospitalized in North Carolina hospitals, 205 more than were reported in state hospitals two weeks ago. Of those currently hospitalized, 326 were COVID-19 adult ICU patients.

In the Charlotte metro region, staffed ICU resources are growing thinner, according to the data. According to an Oct. 20 survey of all hospitals in the greater Charlotte metro, about 18 percent of the region's 427 staffed ICU beds remained empty and about 26 percent of the region's 4,681 staffed inpatient beds remained empty.

As of Tuesday, there were 22 COVID-19 clusters reported in K-12 schools in North Carolina and seven active clusters at child care centers. DHHS defines a cluster as five or more lab-confirmed cases that are linked. At least 290 positive COVID-19 cases were associated with school clusters in K-12 schools and at least 401 positive cases and three deaths associated with child care centers.

Globally, more than 40.5 million people have been infected by COVID-19, and more than 1.1 million people have died, Johns Hopkins University reported Tuesday. In the United States, more than 8.2 million people have been infected and more than 220,000 people have died from COVID-19.